Tim Donnelly campaign video shows apocalyptic view of state

Seema Mehta

Newly minted gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, known for being among the most frequent and inflammatory speakers on the Assembly floor, released an eye-popping campaign video to coincide with his announcement Tuesday that he plans to run for the state’s top office.

The two-minute video features apocalyptic pictures of the state accompanied by a voiceover ominously highlighting California’s poverty, unemployment and taxation rates.

“California’s broken. The California dream has been swallowed up by ever expanding government,” Donnelly says.

The web video then turns to footage of the Inland Empire Republican with his family.

“We need to make California the sexiest place to do business. Because right now the only thing sexy to me in the state of California is my wife,” Donnelly says, standing alongside his wife Rowena. He calls for creating a “tsunami” of jobs by tapping energy sources and focusing on improving schools, and then attention turns to the dinner table. One son does an impression of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before another son notes the importance of the 2nd Amendment to Donnelly.

“I’m a way better shot than my dad and I don’t take guns on planes,” he said, referring to Donnelly’s detention at Ontario International Airport for attempting to take a loaded gun in his carry-on onto a flight to Sacramento in 2012.

“Did you just say that?” asks Donnelly, before calling the media “jerks.”

“They’re always trying to divide us. They divide us by race, they divide us by class. It’s time we had someone who will unite us. So they like to call me white. I’m not white. This is white,” he says, holding up a white paper napkin to his face. “I’m a fleshy pink tone.”

A son then turns to Rowena, who is Filipina, and holds up a tub of ice cream.

“She’s the mocha almond fudge. Look at this, do you see the comparison?” the son says.

The video turns to the state’s signature industries, agriculture in the Central Valley, technology in Silicon Valley and filmmaking in Hollywood.

“We’re driving everyone of these industries into the ground or out of the state,” Donnelly concludes. “I want to be governor so we can fix California.”